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WILDERNESS THERAPIST
SURVEY
(This is a brief analysis of the returned
surveys Woodbury Reports sent out to wilderness therapists
in January. This report is complied by Woodbury Reports affiliate
Larry Stednitz, IECA, larry@woodbury.com,
and Lon Woodbury, IECA, lon@woodbury.com.)
In February, Woodbury Reports sent a newsletter to approximately
100 therapists who currently work in wilderness programs across
the country. This newsletter included an essay about the role
of the therapist in wilderness programs, and we included a
survey describing their current role/s. Approximately 20 percent
of the therapists responded. The following are the results.
One hundred percent of the responding therapists said they
perform traditional therapy in the field, over 80 percent
said they are the primary communicators, 88 percent are in
direct supervisory roles, and 95 percent provide case management
services. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents said their
program does not provide psychological testing in the field.
Perhaps the strongest role assumed by the therapists over
the years is that 88 percent play a major role in supervising
the group.
Surprising to this writer, 88 percent of the therapists also
play a role in the direct supervision of staff. Some state
that they were the primary care manager in the field, four
said he/she had 100 percent responsibility of the group and
staff 24-hours a day, seven days a week. One therapist indicated
that he/she was in the field for the entire trip, which allowed
for extensive supervision of the group and staff. Another
reported that supervision was "shared" with the
chief course instructor and the phase manager.
The majority of programs do not do psychological testing in
the wilderness.
Fifty-eight percent of the therapists reported that they did
not do testing in the field, nor did other therapists serve
that function. Most programs who did not complete psychological
testing in the field, said the testing was done prior to the
student's arrival to the program. Some of this testing is
done in an initial base-camp component of the program. A few
stated that the program used an outside entity to complete
the testing in the field.
Therapists have a very high interest in how many hours they
spend on the trail.
The fifth question was difficult to make comparisons, probably
because of the wording which was, "How many hours do
you spend on the trail?" This question was too open-ended
and could have been interpreted in a variety of ways. Because
of this, I will duplicate some of the responses to give the
reader exact comments:
"I do 5-6, 16 to 21 day expeditions per year, spending
a total of 91 days on trail in 2004."
"37 days in the woods, 888 hours on the trail."
"92 days, 24 hours a day on 16 to 21 day trips."
"85 to 90 days a year, 24 hours a day."
"Average of 75 days a year for 16 to 21 contiguous days."
"Four trips per year, 16-21 days in length."
"Tuesday through Wednesdays."
It should be noted that nearly 100 percent of the surveyed
therapists responded to this question with written comments,
thus indicating this question was of very high interest to
therapists.
"In the future, wilderness programs will continue to
have the services of therapists both as clinicians, adventure
therapists and wilderness guides." The therapist will
continue to be an integral part of the wilderness team.
A strong opinion of the therapist respondents is that they
would like to have their role evolve into increasing their
time in the field and gaining a further understanding of adventure
therapy which includes both hard and soft skills that increase
their contribution in the field. Most believe that while the
therapists have unique training, the therapists should broaden
their skills and function. It is in this manner that therapists
will increase their training in adventure therapy, which will
add to their clinical training.
The programs found within Woodbury's Parent Empowerment Directory
all have therapists well integrated into their wilderness
programs. However, the integration of therapists into wilderness
programs is still not uniform. Some are still working at getting
therapists fully integrated, and other programs have therapists
who play a major role including total supervision of the groups
in the field. The therapists also often serve as case managers
and do the majority of communicating with referral sources
and parents.
There is little question as to the typical therapist's role
in wilderness programs. The field as it exists today still
has programs that struggle with the therapist's role, but
therapists hope they will become fully appreciated. There
are those who still talk about the need for fully licensed
therapists in the field. There are even more who believe the
ideal future is to have therapists in the field much more
than they are today, believing that moment-to-moment, and
day-to-day involvement is what really makes a difference with
the participants.
From those surveyed, the most common understanding is that
the important healer is still Mother Nature, and that there
is a distinct difference between therapy in the wilderness,
and wilderness therapy. A major role of the therapist is to
facilitate the wilderness experience. The future therapists
have a full appreciation of the power of Mother Nature. The
young adventurous therapists, in the same manner of the field
instructors, serve as role models for the students. Their
training is intended to help them in providing meaning and
individualized insight to the student's experience.
One of the challenges that wilderness programs have, is attracting
therapists to remote areas. Furthermore, many therapists spend
one to five years before family demands and professional growth
decisions pull them away from the remote areas. Because of
this dynamic, it is important for wilderness programs to have
senior and experienced clinicians available to provide supervision
and guidance to the wilderness therapists. Additionally, the
experienced field directors play a major role in the training
of new therapists. The therapists in the field play important
roles in helping parents and referral sources identify and
monitor numerous issues in the field. They help clarify the
students' peer relationships, relationships with authority
figures, coping styles, willingness to participate, attitudes,
and other key patterns that students exhibit in the field.
This information is important to parents and referral sources
who are attempting to make post wilderness decisions. Since
therapists are typically the communicator, they must also
be adept at gleaning critical information from the field instructors
who are very close to the students and have subtle offerings
that are critical to parents and referral sources. The therapists
must be able to communicate effectively to fulfill this role
successfully.
Therapists already play an important role in today's wilderness
programming. The respondents as therapists expect their role
will continue to grow and evolve to better utilize the unique
potential of using the wilderness as a healing tool.
Copyright ©
2005, Woodbury Reports, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(This article may not be reproduced without written approval
of the publisher.)
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